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56
typical passage, Moon said in a 1974 speech:
"In this world of chaos, the Korean government is more on our side, begging
for our opinion and actions. * * * Korea is strongly on my side, my Korean
Government is in favor of our movement * * *" (430)
The following year Moon told a crowd at a rally that President Park Chung
Hee was sent by God:
"God set up a powerful new leader, the present president of this Korea, and
the new order in our society when this country was confused and facing the crisis
of Communist invasion from the North in 19761!" (431)
Early relations with the Korean Government
Moon's relations with ROK Governments prior to the 1961 coup were not as
mutually supportive as his relationship with that of Park Chung Hee; later Moon
speeches often referred to the persecution suffered in the pre-1961 period. In
1955, Moon and several followers, including Kim Won Pil, were arrested by the
South Korean authorities. The actual charges varied depending on the source.
One document gave the charge as a "violation of the military draft law." (432)
The Korean National Police said in 1976 that it was for "pseudo-religion and
forgery of official documents." (433) A major Korean newspaper, the Tong A Ilbo,
reported the charge as "violation
of the military draft law" and "false
imprisonment" (the latter charge stemmed from a complaint by a coed that she
had been held against her will for 3 days and compelled to adopt a new religion).
(434) All sources agreed that the charge or charges were dismissed.
This arrest, and newspaper reports of unorthodox "cult" practices by Moon
and his followers, heavily influenced the average Korean's perception of Moon
and his movement in the 1950's and 1960's, to the extent that it was recognized
at all. Even in later years, when Moon and the UC were receiving a great deal of
media attention, the UC as a mass religious movement was far less successful in
Korea than it was in Japan and elsewhere.
On May 15, 1961, 1 day before the military coup which brought the Park
Government to power, Moon performed a wedding ceremony for 36 couples.
Moon recalled that day in a speech:
"Even on the very day of the 36 couple blessing, not only parents but the
government too wanted to investigate our church. In order not to discourage the
members, I had to go secretly to the police station to testify on the very day that I
was to bless the couples." (435)
The subcommittee was unable to obtain details regarding the Government's
detention of Moon at that time.
354
Relations with the Park Government
In the late 1950's, Moon's message was favorably received by four young,
English-speaking Korean Army officers, all of whom were later to provide
important contacts with the post-1961 Korean Government. One was Pak Bo Hi,
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